Wednesday, October 28, 2015

There is a lot of stuff going on. Events, programs,
concerts, tours – they are all vying for our attention and attendance. So what
are the best ways to promote an event so you don’t get lost in the crowd? Here
are a few tips I have found to be successful:

Develop a calendar
listing. A calendar listing should include the event name, date, time,
location, web address and a brief overview of what will happen. If there is a
cost, be sure that is included as well. Send the calendar listing to local
newspapers that have a community events section. They will appreciate getting
all of the information at once. You can also use this information to post to
online event calendars.

Create a Facebook
event. Creating a Facebook event is easy to do. Just add in the details of
the event, a website URL and a photo and you’re basically done. The event will
show up in your newsfeed so all of your followers can see it and share it with
their friends as well. Think of it as a digital word-of-mouth promotion!

Contact local media
outlets. Consider reaching out to local media to give you some pre-event
coverage. Be sure to tell them about the event and why it would make a good
story. Take some time and research reporters and what areas they tend to cover
so you are sure you are reaching the right person.

Promote from within.
If you are an organization that has people coming through your facility – staff
and patrons alike – be sure to take advantage of promoting the event on site by
using bulletin boards, post a flyer in a break room, or anywhere else you might
highlight daily activities. Share information at staff meetings, in newsletters
and even in your email signature.

Promoting your event takes work to be effective, so be sure
to give yourself plenty of time to put some of these ideas into action. The
more time you have to spread the word, the more likely you will reach your
audience and get people to attend! Good luck!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Job searching can be brutal, between searching job boards
and tailoring cover letters it can be time consuming. One way to get noticed is
to have an effective resume. Here are some of the best resume tips that I’ve
used in my job search to help you land an interview!

Make it skimmable:
Don’t have paragraphs on your resume. Have easy, one to two line bullet points
of your duties and projects at jobs. The easier it is to read, the more likely
it is to get read.

Stand out, quietly:
Depending on your industry, resumes don’t need to stick to the traditional set
up, but instead can be designed in a way that is easy to read. Check out some
beautifully designed and free resume templates here.

Leave off the objective
statement: These aren’t really necessary anymore, and waste space that
could be used for more experience or skills.

Reverse chronological
order: List your most recent, relevant experience first. Make it easy for
the hiring manager to track your employment history.

Add volunteer
experience: Little extra room on your resume? Add one or two causes you’ve
volunteered for and are passionate about. It shows potential employers that you
like to give back, and is a great conversation starter.

Is it important? Every
bullet point on your resume should make you look confident and competent.
Double check to make sure your bullet points are clear, concise and demonstrate
what you did.

Proofread, proofread,
proofread and proofread again: Have a couple people look over your resume
for any spelling errors or mistakes. Be sure to proofread every resume you send
out!

With these suggestions your resume should stand out from the
crowd and get your foot in the door.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

So, one of the new words being bantered about these days is
phubbing. For those not up on the latest lingo (I hadn’t heard of this word
until a few weeks ago), it means phone snubbing. As in, “I was in the middle of
a conversation with a coworker and they picked up their phone and starting
checking it.”It can apply to any social
situation.

If you’re in the midst of conversation, it’s not OK to
“check out” for a few moments while you “check in” with your phone. It’s one
thing to say to someone, “please excuse me if my phone goes off, but my child
hasn’t been feeling well and the school might call/text/email me to pick her
up,” and quite another to be at a meeting, eating dinner with, talking with, or
collaboratively working with someone and having them – in the middle of the
interaction – simply look down as if it’s no big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL in more
ways than you might imagine.

A recent study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that phubbing leads to unhappy and dissatisfied employees,
co-workers, friends and spouses. It’s detrimental to our relationships; and the
world is still all about relationships. We love to multi-task, and we all think
we’re good at it but, the truth of the matter is (as this study shows), when
you’re interacting with someone and you’re also checking your phone, you are
signaling in a very direct way that you aren’t interested in the person you’re
interacting with or what they’re saying; you just don’t care enough to give
them your full attention. So the simple cure for the phubbing epidemic is to put
the people in your life first (the ones that are directly in front of you) and
the phone in your life second. Makes sense to me, and now when someone says
they can do both things at once, there’s proof it doesn’t work!